Laughlin SFS member wins AETC honor

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Christopher Cochrane
  • 47th Flying Training Wing Public Affairs
LAUGHLIN AFB, Texas --  Although a newly promoted staff sergeant, Staff Sgt Adam Battin continues to receive accolades for his outstanding performance as a Senior Airmen, and he was recently named AETC Security Forces' Outstanding Flight Level Airman of the Year.

The AETC Award recognizes the outstanding achievements and accomplishments of the applicant's job performance, including contributions to mission effectiveness, leadership and mentorship in the workplace. The award is given to AETC's outstanding individuals at the airmen, NCO, and SNCO levels.

"As a supervisor, I'm extremely proud of him," said Technical Sgt. Joseph Joslin. "He is one of the hardest working people on the base. Regardless of what's asked of him, I'm always confident he will get the job done, and you will never hear him complain while he does it." 

Sergeant Joslin continued to note, "As a squadron we're extrememly proud. When you're recognized by your career field it's exciting, because they look past the normal things we (Team XL) would normally find exciting, or commendable."

Although he's been excelling as an airman since graduating number one in his Airman Leadership School class, much of his award package consisted of his outstanding representation of Team XL while deployed to Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait.

"I lucked-out and was put in a good position," said Sgt. Battin humbly.

Sergeant Battin was a jack of many trades while in Kuwait, supporting fly-away and escort missions, logging more than 1,000 combat miles of convoy duty, and serving in the more traditional Security Forces role of providing base security. It was in this last role that Sgt. Battin found himself defending five Air Force pilots and three British Nationals during a base attack. Fortunately, no one was lost or injured.

"This deployment was a great experience. From flying across the Middle East on C-130s to escorting the Tom Sheppard Band, the deployment allowed me to step out of my realm a little bit."

When asked about the award, he humbly stated, "I've won awards before, nothing at this level, but it's personal pride more then anything for me. I want to be the best at what I do, no matter what the job calls for."

And the job has called again. Sergeant Battin just received word that he and his wife Trisha, two sons Devin and Andrew, will soon be moving to Anderson Air Force Base, Guam. He was one of the first selected to serve as a Commando Warrior Instructor at the Contingency Response Group in Guam, yet another testament to his reputation as an airmen, and future as an NCO.

His future mission will be to provide the theater commander with a 911 response force to go out to an austere location, and set up an initial Air Force presence at that location.

"My wife was so excited she was jumping up and down," said Sgt. Battin, "While we'll miss Laughlin and the friends we've made here, I'm ready to move on with my Air Force career."

Sergeant Battin uses the term "career" literally. When asked about his future in the Air Force" he didn't hesitate to say he'll be a career Airman. "I have no doubt I'll be in for twenty, hopefully thirty years in the Air Force. I love the Air Force."